The book of Acts is an eyewitness account of the development of the first three decades of the Church, from just after Christ's death until about A.D. 60. Chapter 2 records the beginning of the Church, when God sent His Spirit to some 120 followers of Jesus Christ. Many readers of the Bible are familiar with the miraculous events of that day-of how Christ's followers were assembled together when the house was filled with the sound of a mighty wind, and what appeared to be tongues of fire came on those gathered there. Another dramatic miracle occurred as those people, now filled with God's Spirit, began to speak in the languages of those gathered there in Jerusalem so that all could understand their words. Often overlooked in this account is the day on which these events occurred-the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), also called the Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:16), one of the festivals God had commanded for His people many centuries before (Leviticus 23). In giving these festivals, God said that "these are My feasts . . ., the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times" (verses 2,4). God told His people these festivals were to be "a statute forever throughout your generations" (verses 14,21,31,41). Festivals in the early Church The Gospels show that Jesus Christ kept these same festivals (Matthew 26:17-19; John 7:10-14,37-38). Both the book of Acts and Paul's letters show the apostles keeping these festivals during the decades after Christ's crucifixion (Acts 2:1-4; 18:21; 20:6,16; 27:9). Most churches teach that these festivals were "nailed to the cross," that they were somehow annulled when Christ died. Yet the unmistakable record of the Bible is that the early Church continued to observe them as they always had, but with greater grasp of their spiritual significance. Speaking of one of these God-given feasts, the apostle Paul even urged the church in Corinth-a mixed group of gentile and Jewish believers-to "keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1Corinthians 5:8). What religious festival could Paul be referring to? The Feast of Unleavened Bread, of course. The apostle Paul preaches to the Thessalonians in this woodcut by Gustave Doré. The practices of the apostles were firmly in line with those of their Jewish countrymenñand very different from the Christianity practiced today. He further explained to them the significance of Passover (verse 7) and gave them detailed instructions on how to properly observe this ceremony (1Corinthians 11:23-28). These many references in the Gospels, Acts and Paul's epistles prompt an obvious question: Since Jesus, the apostles and the early Church kept these days, why aren't they taught and observed in churches today? They have deep spiritual significance. Paul directly tied them to Jesus Christ, His purpose and His sacrifice for mankind (1Corinthians 5:7). Why, then, don't churches teach about them today? God's weekly Holy Day also observed The Gospels and the book of Acts are equally clear that Christ, the disciples and the early Church kept the weekly Sabbath-from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the seventh day of the week-as their day of rest and worship (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16,31-32; 13:10; Acts 13:14-44; 18:4). Jesus even called Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28). It was Jesus Christ's custom to go to the synagogue every Sabbath to worship (Luke 4:16). Contrary to the teaching of those who say that Paul abandoned the Sabbath, it was his custom, too, to go to the synagogue every Sabbath (Acts 17:1-3), using the opportunity to teach others about Jesus Christ. The weekly Sabbath is another of God's festivals, like those mentioned earlier. It is, in fact, the first of His feasts listed (Leviticus 23:1-4). It is included in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15), although it was created long before Sinai (Genesis 2:2-3) and commanded and enforced even before the Ten Commandments were formally given (Exodus 16:23-30).

As with God's other feasts, the true Sabbath is ignored by the overwhelming majority of churches. Rather than keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week as God commanded, most churches observe the first day of the week-Sunday-a day nowhere commanded in the Bible as a day of worship. Why? If we are to observe any day as a weekly day of rest and worship, shouldn't it be the same day Jesus Christ and the apostles kept? Other differences in practice We find other differences in teaching and practice as well. Many churches teach that obedience to God's law is no longer necessary, that Christ kept it for us or it was "nailed to the cross" with Christ. This is directly contrary to Christ's own words (Matthew 4:4; 5:17-19) and the teaching and practice of the apostles (Acts 24:14; 25:8; Romans 7:12,22; 1Corinthians 7:19; 2Timothy 3:15-17). Following Christ's example, the apostles powerfully preached about Jesus Christ's return to establish the coming Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43; 8:1; 21:27,31; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23,31). But Paul warned that, even in his day, some were already preaching "a different gospel" (2Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6). We see much confusion in churches about what the true gospel is. Most view the gospel as a message about Christ's birth, life and death, but without really understanding why He came and why He had to die, and without proclaiming the message of God's Kingdom that Christ Himself taught (Mark 1:14-15). Similarly, Jesus and the apostles did not teach that the righteous ascend to heaven at death (John 3:13; Acts 2:29,34), and they understood that man does not possess an immortal soul (Ezekiel 18:4,20; Matthew 10:28). Nowhere do we find popular religious holidays like Christmas approved in the Bible. The only time "Easter" is mentioned in the Bible (Acts 12:4, King James Version), it is a blatant mistranslation of the Greek word for Passover. Lent and its practices are nowhere found. These are some of the major differences between the Christianity of the time of Christ and the apostles and that commonly practiced today. -Scott Ashley